Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers:

KJV Verse:

Greek Verse:

Literal Alternative:

Blissful are those producing freedom from fear because they will be called "children"...in their relation to the divine.

Hidden Meaning:

The sense of the Greek word translated as "blessed" shifts its meaning among "happy", "wealthy", and fortunate depending on the context. "Fortunate or lucky seems to work here. This word only means "blessed" in the sense that the lucky are blessed by good fortuned. It is not a religious term.

There is no "are" here. It is added to make a written sentence as opposed to a spoken phrase.

The Greek term translated as "peacemaker" means literally one who produces "peace" or "makes peace." While "peace" means "freedom from fear" or "a treaty" between warring parties. In this era, peacemakers were not pacifists but neither were they simply warriors. Plutarch said that young men wanted war and contests because they had no power or respect and wished to win them. Mature, established men were the peacemakers. They were people of power, people of influence who could enforce the peace, that is, make the peace. In English, we would say "peacekeepers" rather than "peace makers." So there is a bit of a play on words here: the powerful men of human society are being called children.

Again, the use of the pronoun for the subject "they" emphasizes it, since the pronoun is already part of the verb ending. It doesn't appear in all Greek manuscripts. However, appearing as it does as a subject next to the word for "children," which is also in the form of the subject of the sentence, a verb equating them would be assumed.

The Greek term translated as "shall be called" is the source of our word "to call." It means "to call be name" or "to summon by name." We saw a different form of this word in the beatitude on mourning (Mat 5:4 ), which used it in the sense of summoning. However, this verb is really at the end of the sentence, not in the middle. It is in the future tense.

The word translated as "children" is literally "sons." Here, however, this idea of being called a son or child is both an insult and praise. It is an insult because mature men of power are being called children. However, in being called children of God, they are being praised. As we know, Christ referred to himself as the "son of God." Here he connects that idea to those who make peace. Of course, Christ himself was a producer of peace in the sense of brings people freedom from the fear of death. However, worldly peacemakers create people of a different sort. Christ says this explicitly in John 14:27: "...my peace I give to you: not as the world gives."

Wordplay:

The mature men of worldly power are the called "children" in divine terms. this is both criticism and praise because they are children of the divine.

The Spoken Version:

The audience was quiet, watching, but a few from a group of Isolationists were clearly shocked. As the speaker helped the pregnant women sit down again, two young Isolationists started complaining and getting up. A pair of their elders pulled them back down again and quieted them.
The speaker moved toward the group.
“Lucky!” The speaker continued, indicating the two Isolationist elders. “Those who maintain the peace.” He helped the old men stand up. “Seeing that they are themselves—,” he said, indicating their long, grey beards to the crowd. “Children—”
The crowd, including the Isolationists, both young and old, laughed.
“Of the divine!” The teacher continued. Then he added with certainty, “They are going to be called!”

Vocabulary:

οἱεἰρηνοποιοί, (noun pl masc nom) "Peacemaker" is from eirenopoios, which means literally, "one who produces peace" or "one who makes peaceful." The first part of the word comes from eirene, a noun which means both the "freedom from fear" and "a treaty of peace between countries". The last part of the word is the verb, poieo, which means "to make", "to produce", "to create", "to bring into existence", "to bring about", "to cause", "to render", "to consider", "to prepare", "to make ready," and "to do."

ὅτι (adv) "For" is from hoti, which introduces a statement of fact "with regard to the fact that", "seeing that," and acts as a causal adverb meaning "for what", "because", "since," and "wherefore."

[αὐτοὶ] (adj pl masc nom) "They" is from autos (autos), which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."

υἱοὶ (noun pl masc nom) "The children" is from huios, which means a "son," and more generally, a "child."